


Not A Kiss

by missema



Series: Kirkwall Tech [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fraternity, College, Exes, F/M, Fraternities & Sororities, Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-01
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-24 09:26:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4914106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The prompt "My friend dragged me to this party and I just saw my ex quick make out with me" caught my attention from a list of college au situations.</p><p>Melissa Hawke was dumped somewhat recently, after a year long relationship. She's not feeling this party that Isabela's dragged her to, with promises that the band would be worth hearing. When she's ready to walk out, Sebastian sees her, and persuades her to stay a little longer. It's his party, you see, and he's always liked Melissa. When the dreaded ex appears, Sebastian's got better plans than to be used to incite jealousy and Hawke's willing to go along with them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not A Kiss

She so didn’t want to be here. There was nothing about a party that appealed to Hawke in her current state of mind. The floor under her feet was already sticky with something unidentifiable, even though there weren’t that many people around yet. The air was cool, it was early spring, and a few open windows kept the room from overheating prematurely. A walk would be tolerable, and she should go. Mid-terms were coming up, and unless she was much mistaken, she really needed to study. There were consequences to giving most of her attention and time during the semester to a not at all deserving ex, as opposed to her studies.

There was a drink in her hand, some kind of beer that tasted more like water than lager and a band that Isabela knew were playing somewhere in the frat house. They were lively at least, if not all that talented from the sounds of their attempt at a cover of a popular song. Melissa knew she should at least try to enjoy herself, but she was steadfastly mired in her bad mood. It wasn’t really such a terrible party, but she was in no state for it.

When she turned to suggest that she might leave after she finished her drink, Isabela wasn’t behind her. She would still be around; they never left a party without telling the other first. It was a rule of theirs. A quick scan around the room showed that she was in conversation with someone else, but Hawke couldn’t see who it was. She sighed. It didn’t really matter, and she took another sip of her slightly chilled beer.

Not only did she not want to be here, here was boring and she was alone. Another frat party. Melissa had done this so many times before, she couldn’t rightly distinguish them in her mind. Freshman year it had been exciting - booze, dancing, new people - but those novelties quickly wore off. Sophomore year was still fun, if less enticing, but so near the tail end of her junior year, it held little charm.

“Hawke! Melissa!” A voice called out to her and she turned in a circle, trying to locate the speaker in the mass of bodies. A hand touched her arm lightly, and she followed it up to see the face of Sebastian Vael.

She knew him from a few classes, and they’d worked on a group project together here or there. If pressed, she might call him a friend of a friend, because they knew quite a few people in common, but the two of them had never spent much time together socially. They weren’t the same major, but there was some overlap between the math department and whatever field of engineering he studied.

“Hi,” Hawke said, and then looked him up and down. Maker, he was cute. She’d forgotten, or hadn’t really paid much attention. “I guess this is your frat,” she said, gesturing at his shirt. He had KSE embroidered on a dark blue shirt in gold letters. Melissa looked away before she started staring. Had his chest always been so broad or was she just noticing it for the first time?

“Please, Hawke,” Sebastian said, smiling at her. “The Kirkwall Society of Engineers is not a fraternity. We’re a local social society, not a fraternal letter organization,” he said with mock seriousness.

“Ah, things are so much clearer now,” Melissa said. “I guess that’s why your beer is actually drinkable. Well, it’s at least cold.”   
  
“We aim to please,” Sebastian said, with a trace of a chuckle in his voice. “Tell me this isn’t your first time here, or I’ll have to give you the tour.”

“I’ve been here several times before this year, but I never got the tour. Or is this a clever way of getting me to see your room in particular?”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at her. “My offer was made with the friendliest of intentions. Besides, aren’t you seeing someone?”

Hawke shook her head, and forced a smile on her face. “That’s been over for a while now,” she rushed on, not wanting to give Sebastian a chance to ask about it, “but I will take your tour. I can’t say I’ve ever seen more than the front few rooms during the parties here.”

Sebastian extended his arm to her and Hawke took it up. “How could you have missed the finest of movie rooms where we project our entertainment on the wall or our balcony, which is now safety code compliant? Truly, it’s a marvel best seen with a fresh beer. Can I get you one before we start on our way?”

“Okay,” Hawke said and let him lead her towards the beer and to wherever this tour would take them.

#

Sebastian hated to see anyone hurting, but it was more than concern that made him speak to Melissa Hawke. He regretted asking about her relationship, but he hadn’t been sure. Years ago he’d had to deal with a jealous husband, which earned him a reputation that didn’t truly fit and a caution about starting new relationships. He hadn’t been with anyone in a while, but he did nurse a mild crush on Hawke.

Last fall they’d been in a class together, his last mathematics class needed for his degree, and she’d blown him away. Always attentive, asking questions that he hadn’t yet formulated and possessed of a quick mind and sharp wit, he’d grown to like her more in that class than he had in their past acquaintance. Mathematics seemed to bring out the best in her, so it made sense that she majored in it.

It almost made him want to take another class with her, just to see her again. Almost. If he wanted even more work next year. The allure was strong, but it wasn’t enough to make him take on extra work, especially now that he knew she was single.

That hadn’t been his motivation when he first saw her. He just liked talking to her, and it was clear by the disinterested tilt of her beer and her lack of eye contact that she wasn’t into the party. Leaving early would have been a shame, she would miss the bonfire and the band. They were good once they got a few songs in, and the night was just starting.

When they came back down from the second floor together, he had her laughing. Technically, most of the second floor was out of bounds for party goers, but he had mentioned the balcony. It had been nice to be alone with her, away from the swell of people and noise. Sebastian regretted that they did have to rejoin the party, or at least, he did.

“As you can see, it’s a marvel of engineering. Proof that our degrees will be put to good use eventually, and of course we promised to be upstanding young men and not climb or fling anything off it this time,” Sebastian told her, concluding the story of how the damn thing got broken anyway.

“I can’t picture you climbing it,” she said.

“It’s not such a long way up if you can find the proper footholds. The problem was once you were up there, you're on a rickety old platform that might fall in at any moment.”

Melissa laughed again, her arm still twined with his. She had such a beautiful smile, and Sebastian laughed with her. They’d re-entered the party, which had gotten larger during their quick jaunt away. The band was hitting their stride finally, and Sebastian’s next question was going to be to ask her to dance.

“St. Seb, the beers are running out and I can’t find Worthy to unlock the walk-in.” A younger man in another blue KSE shirt came up to Sebastian, interrupting their conversation with important beer news. Sebastian couldn’t remember his real name, but he was a freshman called ‘Canoe’ among the brothers. Pledges and freshmen got the shit jobs at parties - checking IDs, sober driving, and keeping track of the drink supply. But only two people had the keys to replenish the drinks, a far too senior responsibility to give to pledges. He sighed and shot Canoe a dirty look before turning to speak to Melissa.

“If you’d excuse me, Hawke, this won’t take long.”

“Bring me another bottle of beer and I might forgive you,” she said, smiling at him as she disentangled her arm from him. “Saint Sebastian,” she added, then giggled.

Sebastian nodded and winked at her. “I know where they keep the good stuff.”

#

Melissa wanted to shamelessly watch Sebastian walk away from her, but the crowd was too dense and he disappeared into it. The back of his shirt read ‘Choir Boy’. Maybe that’s where the St. Seb name came from, but she was definitely going to ask him about it. She was smiling to herself, even as she stood there alone. There were far more people at the party now, but that made her feel better. It was good to be in a crowd of people, with all their collective energy and loudness to draw her out of her funk.

Leaving her empty beer bottle on a nearby table that was already full of empties, she attempted to stay in roughly the same place where she’d been with Sebastian. People were pushing past her in order to get to other rooms, or to find a decent place to stand around like she was. Melissa was looking around, scanning the room for a place to wait when Isabela found her. Her friend dragged her over to a spot against a wall, shooing away the loitering group of guys that had been there.

“I’ve been looking all over for you! Do you want to go?” Isabela asked, sounding a little breathless. She was sweating, and had obviously been dancing before she’d come to find Hawke.

“What? No. I’m waiting for Sebastian Vael. He was bringing me a beer.”

“Really? Choir Boy?”

“Do you know where that name came from?” Hawke asked.

Isabela waved a hand at her, “I think his parents sent him to the Chantry as a kid or some shit like that. But I thought you’d want to go now, since certain people are here.”

Melissa groaned. Just when she was starting to feel better. Not only did she not want to see her former flame, but she didn’t want to be seen standing in a room, tipsy and alone. “Shit,” was all she could manage.

“Something wrong?” Sebastian asked, joining the two of them. “Isabela,” he said, nodding at her.

“Hawke’s dreaded ex is here, and not alone,” Isabela said.

“What?!” Melissa yelped, feeling blindsided. “I thought…never mind. Shit.” Sebastian wordlessly handed her the beer he’d brought her, and Hawke took a swig. It was pretty good, definitely not like the first two she’d had.

“Do you want to leave?” Isabela asked her again, and Hawke shook her head.

“No. No, I’m having a good time. It doesn’t matter. I can’t hide forever.”

“Good girl,” Isabela said. “Do you want to dance? The band’s good, yeah? I told you they were before we came.”

“Go on. I’ll come find you if I need to leave.” Hawke shook her head. She knew how much Isabela loved to dance, but she wasn’t feeling up to it tonight.

Isabela reached over and squeezed her hand, then went back towards the music. Sebastian was giving her a look that was too close for pitying for her liking. She gave him a wide smile that wasn’t as hard to muster as she would have thought.

“If things get really awkward, you could always make out with me until the coast is clear,” she said, only half-joking.

Sebastian chuckled, then looked away from her. Hawke laughed as well, though her chest was filled with a strange tension, almost like she’d held her breath for too long. Before she could stop herself, she took a small step toward him.

“Or you could just kiss me. No subterfuge needed.”

“A tempting invitation. I wonder if you’d make the same offer without beer and circumstance?” he asked, giving her a searching look. Melissa felt her face flush.

She hadn’t considered that even though Sebastian had been flirting with her all night, that he might really want to kiss her. Well, she had noticed that he was flirting, and she right back, but it had been lighthearted, without a serious intent. She cocked her head to the side as she considered her answer.

“You could always ask me when we wake up tomorrow morning,” Melissa said.

Sebastian let out a loud guffaw. “Well played, though I assure you my intentions are honorable tonight.”

“But it’s such a lovely place to imagine.”

“Perhaps you’re not imagining so much as foreseeing?”

“I hope so,” Melissa replied softly.

Sebastian didn’t answer. He looked conflicted for a moment, but then his attention was captured by something over her shoulder. Just as she was about to ask him about it, he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

“I think we’ve gained a specific audience. Do you still want me to kiss you, or would you like something better?”

Melissa looked up at him, wondering what the latter option could possibly be. “You have something in mind?”

“Kissing you wouldn’t garner the right response,” Sebastian said, stepping closer to her. “Can I put my arm around you?” he asked.

She nodded, and he did, slipping a strong arm around her waist. She was close enough to touch him now, and rested her palm on his chest as she looked up at him. His heartbeat thudded under her hand, strong and steady under a warm wall of muscle. Sebastian pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Oh, oh. This was…nice. Intimate. Understanding blossomed in her, as well as heat that had nothing to do with the exuberant party around them.

“This gets the right response?” she asked. Her voice was a little lower than she intended, but it didn’t matter. He could hear her fine, given their close proximity.

“I think so. Speculation, jealousy, and maybe a little confusion. We’re certainly getting a lot of attention. Very obvious attention,” he said after stealing a glance behind her.

“Ignore it,” Melissa said resolutely. Her hand drifted up from his chest to cup his cheek. “Are you still just helping or are we past that?”

Sebastian turned his head to press a kiss into the palm of her hand. Her hand burned when he took his lips from it. When he spoke, his voice was a shade rougher. “If I’m helping anyone now, it’s myself."

She wanted him, she wanted another kiss, every kiss, oh Maker, how she wanted. But Hawke knew she wasn’t ready, not quite yet, despite her earlier quip about waking up together. She looked up at him, forgetting the party around the two of them. Sebastian didn’t speak, but neither did she. He held her gaze, and for a while she just admired his pretty cerulean eyes until she had to look away. Perhaps he knew what she was thinking, or at least how she was feeling, because he tipped her chin back up so he could look at her when he did speak.

“I can’t leave tonight, even though I’m sorely tempted to walk you home.”

Melissa laughed. Walk her home? That was a euphemism if she’d ever heard one. “Why not?”

“My illustrious position as vice-president of KSE. It’s my turn tonight to round up all the pledges and make sure they aren’t going back to the dorms drunk and to lock up what’s left of the booze so we can all have beerios tomorrow morning.”

“Beerios? Is that Cheerios with beer?” She pulled a face that made Sebastian laugh.

“It stops the hangovers,” he said, confirming her guess. “Are you free on Sunday?”

“Yes. Maybe. When?” Her confused answer made him chuckle again, but it was quieter, a rumble in his chest that she could feel but barely make out over the noise around them.

“After vespers. We can have dinner, if you like.”

“Vespers? So you are a Choir Boy after all.”

“Not truly. But you haven’t answered me yet.” He waited half a beat and then said, “you can pick the place, but I’m partial to Nevarran food.”

“Alright.” Melissa smiled as she answered. “After vespers on Sunday.”

Sebastian’s arm tightened around her waist, she leaned into him instinctively. There was almost no space between the two of them, which was lovely, but the hand holding her half-empty beer was awkwardly pressed against his side.

“We’re no longer being watched, at least not that I can see.”

“Do you want to dance? I really think since I’m not going to get accompanied home, you owe me a few dances.” She didn’t care anymore, not about her ex watching them or anyone they might be with. She just liked being with there with him.

He obliged, taking her hand and leading her into the room where the band was playing. They held hands during the bonfire, and when she and Isabela were ready to leave, he made sure he had her number. The next morning, she woke up alone in her own bed, with aching legs, but smiling for the first time in weeks. Melissa hummed to herself as she and Isabela did massive loads of laundry. She had to have something to wear if she was going out on Sunday night with Sebastian.

**Author's Note:**

> This might become a series? I don't know. It feels like it wants to, but time and work and blah blah life. But I love Melissa Hawke and Sebastian. She was the first Hawke I had that romanced him, and I wrote a lot of terrible stories about them. They fit into my college version rather well, however, so this might be a thing I need to do.


End file.
